Important question

Oh, and as for the Chinese meal... Just don't weigh yourself for 3-5 days. If you weigh yourself right after a big, salty meal, you might see an increase from water and the actual weight of the food. It's not "real;" it goes away quickly. If you just don't look at the scale, you can spare yourself some emotional upset over fluctuations that don't matter.

I'm more concerned about what you're NOT eating than what you did eat. Your ticker says that you've got over 75 pounds to lose. What do you mean when you say "my allowed calories of 1300 calories per day"? Are you on a doctor-supervised diet? Because SparkPeople wouldn't give you that low a recommendation. The lowest for anyone, even if they're not active, is 1200-1550. If you were 100 pounds overweight when you started, SP probably would have given you at least 1800 as your upper limit.

If you're recovering from an injury and you're inactive a lot of the time, you're probably okay at 1300, but you REALLY shouldn't go below 1200 unless you have a doctor/registered dietitian who is very well experienced in weight loss for people with your type of injury. People with an injury usually need MORE nutrients than an average person. Healing uses protein and calcium and other minerals and vitamins. If you're eating less than 1200 calories, you're probably not getting enough to maintain your health, much less enough to improve it. If you're not working with a medical specialist, please track your nutrition as well as your calories and make sure you're getting what your body needs to get better!

In my experience, I have found that it is EXTREMELY important to incorporate foods you love into you diet in order to maintain the "fire", if you will, for weight loss. Nobody wants to give up everything they like to eat, and it is not realistic to try to do so. Everything in moderation.

MARI1961, you may see an increase of a couple of pounds the following day, but like everyone else has been saying, that will be mostly due to the sodium.

Now, you need to make sure that under no circumstances (non-active or otherwise) you go under 1000 calories. Your body needs AT LEAST 1000 calories to function it's best, not to mention that you're not giving yourself any wiggle room once you drop some weight...Remember, as you drop weight, your caloric needs go down and you need to shave it off your caloric allowance...if you're already at 1000-1300 calories, you have no where left to go!

Generally speaking, going under 1200 calories for weight loss is discouraged. If Sparkpeople says you can eat 1300-1600 calories a day, go for the larger end of the scale, and if you're not losing weight, cut back to 1500 calories.

"Use the losses and failures of the past as a reason for action, not inaction." -Charles J. Givens

I ate chinese food on Monday night.Hell, I had a burger and fries on Tuesday and a taco on Friday! And I have still lost 2lb this week. ONE MEAL WILL NOT HURT! As long as the rest of the week your calories are in check you won't automatically put on weight. Please stop stressing :)

~Jess~

There are no shortcuts. No magic bullets. No secret spells. What works is hard work, dedication, and a daily dose of chocolate.

DANNIELLEMARIE
Posts:
1,416
2/10/12 9:01 P

you might find your weight goes up for the next couple days due to the extra sodium (Chinese food is pretty high in sodium) so expect that if you are weighing in the next day or three. But it's just water weight and it will balance out.

"The food you eat can either be the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison."

अहिंसा

MARI1961
Posts:
78
2/10/12 5:55 P

Thanks Everyone, I feel lots better now. SILVERMOONFAIRY, The days that I eat 1000 calories or less is usually when I am not active at all because of my back, I do eat enough that I am not hungry, and I am getting plenty of fruits and veggies. I know that starving myself is not the way to go, I learned the hard way, by experience. Thanks again. Marilyn :)

SILVERMOONFAIRY
Posts:
259
2/10/12 3:40 P

It takes 3500 calories more than you use to gain one pound, so it's unlikely you'll see much change other than possibly some salt/water retention weight.

The bigger concern is you saying that there is almost a month's worth of time that you have had less than 1000 calories per day. Unless under doctor supervision, that's generally not considered healthy and could be doing damage to your body. Additionally, it isn't sustainable for long periods of time, which means that once you start to eat correctly, you will gain weight back.

My advice would be to revisit your trackers to make sure you're getting a) enough calories and b) enough healthy calories (fruits and veggies and whole grains and good fats etc.) and talk to your doctor if necessary, too.

Remember, a pound of fat equals 3500 calories so its really REALLY hard to gain measurable weight because of one meal. What you might notice is an uptick in water retention since commercial chinese food has a ton of sodium in it. Next time, maybe instead of buying takeout, make your own Chinese food (SparkRecipes has a ton), or go for the steamed entrees that have the sauce on the side.

I'm a new-timer here, but I wouldn't think it mess you up. I have seen diets where you blow it for one day a week every week and still lose weight...I'm not condoning this by any means. I can't imagine that it is tremendously healthy to do this every week, but no one is going to be perfect and eat perfectly forever. There are going to be slip ups and your body will more than likely compensate...just my two cents.

MOVE!!!!!!!

MARI1961
Posts:
78
2/10/12 3:30 P

Since the 1st of Jan I have stuck by my allowed calories of 1300 calories per day, but for half that time I did not get a 1000 calories a day. Today for breakfast dinner and a snack I got around 545 calories. I decided to treat myself to an early supper of chinese food, and I got a conbination dinner. A really good feed, ate the whole thing.. How many pounds can I expect to gain back because of that... As bad as i wanted it, I'm sorry now I ate it, will that one meal cause me to gain alot back??? "(

SparkPeople, SparkCoach, SparkPages, SparkPoints, SparkDiet, SparkAmerica, SparkRecipes, DailySpark, and other marks are trademarks of SparkPeople, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
SPARKPEOPLE is a registered trademark of SparkPeople, Inc. in the United States, European Union, Canada, and Australia. All rights reserved.

NOTE: Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy last updated on October 25, 2013